Boldilocks

It's all about her and not about you and your health.

My husband is extremely unsupportive. I didn't even tell him about the surgery as he had previous from for trying to cancel my much needed breast reduction behind my back 5 years ago.

I texted him after the surgery and had left a whole folder of useful info and a letter explaining why I hadn't told him waiting on the kitchen countertop. I leaned on my very supportive friends who helped me with all travel especially.

He now says it was the best decision I could have made, and that I was smart not to tell him as he wouldn't have understood and would have tried to stop it.

You do you - it's your health and no one else's. She wouldn't like you telling her what to do with her body.

I'm 8.5 months out at this point and am crawling along at a snail's pace.

At my 6 month follow up the NP said I was doing so great, and only had 10 lbs to go - I said that I really had about 20 lbs to go, but you know how they formulate it differently to have as many success stories as possible. 70% of excess weight rather than healthy BMI. But whatever, I told her my personal goal was 128 not 138.

I asked for guidance on how much I should be eating as I was aware of less restriction and more hunger - she told me 600 cals a day until I go back at the 1 year mark. That seemed extreme to me, but I did it for a while. I'm a compulsive tracker - have 8 years worth of tracking on MFP. Daily, I track weight, calories, Protein, Water, carbs, fat, steps, exercise, bowel movements, menstruation, ovulation. The scale didn't move on 600 and I gained a little. And my energy was terrible, my skin awful, and I began having more food cravings.

Honestly - and I am a PCOS weirdo, and none of us are in any way typical at all, and I am not saying anyone else should do this - I only see consistent downward movement on the scale when I up my calories to 1100-1200 and up my carbs to 100g. It is terrifying to me to eat more carbs, but for now I'm going with it. My stats, graphs, and charts show a real correlation that I don't think is coincidence. I am well used to being disciplined - I think as PCOSers we all are - so I will stay on this protocol for a while and if it stops working, it won't be hard for me to go lower again.

I avoided coming on here for a while as I felt like I was a fraud or a cheat or I would be admonished for not doing things the "right" way - but I know my body and I'm honest with myself about what I put into it, so for right now this is what is working for me, and me alone.

I don't think it helps that it is the last 20 lbs I am trying to lose, and everyone always says they just don't want to budge.

(I am also a vegetarian BTW - have been since I was 6 - and I don't have any trouble getting plenty of protein from food. I haven't had to have Protein Shakes since 6 weeks out. I do a lot of dairy though: FF cottage cheese, FF Greek yoghurt, light babybel cheeses.)

How have your cycles been since the surgery?

I jest not - I had my surgery on Feb 5th, and my period started on Feb 6th (not really fun at the time). And ever since I have had perfect 30 day cycles! I can predict exactly when it is going to come now - like a normal person! My periods are also not as heavy or painful. Bleeding lasts 3 days instead of 5+. I so enjoy not having cycles that are anywhere between 15 days and 100 days!

This happened to me on my 3 month and 6 month post-op blood draws and I didn't even think of it - doh!

On surgery day they stuck me 4 times, couldn't do it, then the anaesthesiologist had to come and do it with a baby needle on my inside wrist. Ouch. Big difference now.

Congrats to us! The NSVs just keep racking up!

I always had the issue too - it used to put me off taking Vitamins and I knew that wouldn't wash with surgery.

Now I take 2 Flintstones chewables with Iron, 2 Biotin gummies, and a dissolve under the tongue B12 in the AM.

A Calcium soft chew at lunch time, and another in the PM.

Just had my 6 month b/w done and all my levels are perfect. I can take the morning vitamins without anything in my stomach, as I'm not a breakfast person.

Agreeing with he posts about metabolism above. Our guidelines would help some people - but not people with other stuff going on.

Post-op, my diet is not that different from pre-op. I've been vegetarian since I was about 8, I have been logging food and exercise daily in MFP for 7 years and keeping to a calorie deficit, I drink the same amount that I did before (124 oz or more a day). My calories are a little lower right now as I was going on 1300 or less a day for the years before surgery, but not much difference. When I went home for the summer, my old friends didn't notice much of a difference in the amounts I eat now and the amounts I used to eat.

But I have PCOS and my hormones were beyond messed up - I really believe that surgery was the only thing that was going to work for me. Even with that, it's taking ages for the weight to come off - I was told to expect extremely slow loss, but it was still a bit of a shock how slow compared to others. So now I try not to compare, LOL.

On 8/28/2019 at 5:05 PM, Lbtnew said:

what ales were you able to tolerate without any issues ?

I mostly stayed on the stouts and I was fine - about 6 pints is my limit for the night. No hangovers, no throwing up, no weight gain. It was a grand time!

On 8/13/2019 at 10:46 AM, Jobber said:

The recommendation varies by medical team. Mine says I can drink right up to eating with no delay in between, but no drinking 30 mins after.

Same!

On 7/30/2019 at 10:58 PM, kylesmamamia said:

See a pumonologist and have a sleep study done. They will determine if you need to be on a CPAP machine.

Sent from my moto e5 play using BariatricPal mobile app

No need - any sleep apnea I might have had has definitely been resolved. The difference to my sleep quality has been one of the biggest impacts of surgery.

On 7/12/2019 at 2:44 AM, Frustr8 said:

So Boldilocks, did you ever get evaluated or are you doing so good with surgery and weight loss that you may not need it done?

Never needed it, thanks for asking! Since surgery my sleep has been wonderful - it's like night and day. I fall asleep faster, sleep through for 7-8 hrs, and wake up earlier feeling like I really slept and ready to get up. I have no doubt that I did have sleep apnea that has now been resolved, because my sleep quality has changed so drastically!

I also think that the people who see us day to day are so used to us being large, that when we are a bit smaller it looks like we're tiny to them. I've had the OMG are you sick comments - because my surgery was in the winter when everyone hibernates around here and my neighbours hadn't really seen me for months. The truth is that I'm only *just* out of the Obese BMI and into the Overweight category - but people the same height as me but 20+ lbs lighter think I look too thin! Bizarre.

I'm going home to Ireland for my yearly visit in 2 weeks, and no one there has seen me since last summer, waaaay pre-op. I'm readying myself for the onslaught.

1 hour ago, GradyCat said:

I have a gallbladder, but no medication. I've never heard of this before.

It's a new one on me too.

I just passed my halfway point, and am feeling really good today! It may be slow, but it's better than not losing at all, or gaining. Feeling strong and knowing I can do this!

I just went on the trampoline we have in our backyard with my daughters - it was so much fun!!!

6 hours ago, Aprilgal said:

I feel that it would be nice to have more pt on the backs and celebrating of wins for people who are moderate or slow losers.

I have been even thinking of starting a thread maybe - does someone know if there is one already.

I think it is great when people drop 35 pounds in the first two weeks and reach goal in six months. It is incredible.

Not all of us are like that. I know a lot of pre-surgical people are primarily concerned with weight loss and how quickly they will reach their goals - and get super jazzed at hearing about people who have lost weight more quickly.

That excitement can then turn into disappointment post surgery when they don't drop 35 pounds in two weeks and it leads to depression and "what am I doing wrong...Im following my program". They aren't doing anything wrong - it is just their expectations.

Also people who haven't had the surgery often will tell u 'oh you will be droppingtons of weight'. They have good intentions but - they can also make one feel like your progress is disappointing.

I just think it would be nice to have a thread that gave newbies like myself and newbies more realistic expectations.

Definitely! I fall into the category of super, ultra slow loser too. I don't really compare, but do feel that pressure and have a lot of anxiety that my window will close. I almost started a thread tonight for the ot6her tortoises like me.

1 hour ago, JanJan19 said:

Thanks everyone. I'm finally feeling a bit better. Pain was an 8, I think it's down to a 4 with a new painkiller. Taking laps around the hospital & finally got Water & apple juice.

Great! There is no reason why you should be left in so much pain, and it certainly won't aid you in healing.

I was in awful pain - and my surgeon refused to give me anything stronger than tylenol. My mum, bless her wee heart, was so upset that she Fedexed her own hydrocodone to me. Which you are not meant to do, obviously. But you never stop being a mum, I guess.

After about 5-7 days it was more manageable with over the counter pain meds. It is definitely major surgery - the incisions look like 6 stab wounds, and wouldn't you feel sore after that? Hang in there - and keep on at your team until they find medication that works for you! I hope you're feeling better soon!

Today though, I caught a squirrel (my favourite animal - I love them and have a whole hoard that I feed) rocking itself in a porch chair, as bold as brass.

I didn't get a walk in yesterday because I had to go to Albany and be fingerprinted by the Department of Homeland Security in case I do something I shouldn't - anyway, the hearse seen parked nonchalantly outside McDonald's at the Thruway rest stop tickled me for some reason. Life is nothing if not ridiculous, right? 🤣

1 hour ago, GreenTealael said:

This was all I needed to read to know how much I 💖 you..

Back at you! @FluffyChix too!

Let me just post the whole article then - I really should have cited it as the source, doh! It's not the newest - but all the different aspects of WLS really resonated with me. It works on a deeper level than restriction, and they still don;t understand it totally. It was one of the articles I used to convince my husband about the surgery - remember he was negative and judgemental? But anything in the NY Times is gospel to him, LOL.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/27/health/bariatric-surgery.html

Love the analogies!

Since the surgery, eating is more mindful. I can't just eat something and not think about it because I think for most of us food and nutrients and macros are always on our minds a bit.

And since surgery my cravings are completely manageable. It's like my brain is in the driving seat now, or it's like The Matrix where everything slows down and I can pause and weigh up the pros and cons, and make a real decision about what I'm going to eat, instead of acting on a compulsion.

Like, the other night I was going to have some chocolate. I had planned it, and already entered it in MFP - it was a treat for Eurovision night (don't ask). I took it out of the fridge, put it on the counter, walked away to let the cat in, came back, looked at it, then put it back in the fridge and took some light Baby Bel cheeses instead. I had wanted the chocolate, but didn't have to have it... then realised I didn't actually want it that much anyway.

I read a NY Times article that touched upon this:

"It has become clear that bariatric surgery changes the entire setting of a complex, interlocking system. There is no one place to tweak it. To show what is involved, Dr. Kaplan reports that surgery immediately alters the activity of more than 5,000 of the 22,000 genes in the human body.

“You have to think of it as a whole network of activity,” Dr. Kaplan said. It’s a network that responds to the environment as well as to genes, he added. Today’s environment probably pushed that network into a state that increased the set point for many people: Their brains insist on a certain amount of body fat and resist diets meant to bring them to a lower weight and keep them there.

“Surgery moves the network back,” Dr. Kaplan said.

But surgery only alters the intestinal tract. That tells you, Dr. Kaplan says, that there are whole classes of signals coming from the gut and going to the brain and that they interact to control hunger, satiety, how quickly calories are burned and how much fat is on the body."

11 hours ago, GreenTealael said:

After WLS, I Gain A Little Weight When I ________

Don't have a BM every day...

TRUTH!

Also, when I have my period, and when I ovulate.

And definitely "After WLS, I gain a little weight when I... step on the scales, convinced I did everything right the day before and that the numbers will reflect that!"

2 hours ago, FluffyChix said:

These types/styles of tankini are all over Target and Walmart for even lower I think? Plus you get the added fun of trying it on in front of their trick changing room mirrors from hell! ha!

ALL the nopes!!! LOL

The concept of me trying on bathing suits in a shop changing room might just rip a hole in the fabric of reality (never mind the fabric of the bathing suit)! 🤣

3 minutes ago, GreenTealael said:

Forgot to post these... from a museum run & walk 😂

Show off!